Crawling
by Kairyuu-san
Summary: After the explosion on the building, Loz manages to live another day. But what happens when he shows up at Tifa’s bar, wounded and weak? Will she help him? And what happens when Cloud shows up? [Post AC, Loz x Tifa]
1. What the Rain Washed In

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

**Rating:** T

**Summary:** After the explosion on the building, Loz manages to live another day. But what happens when he shows up at Tifa's bar, wounded and weak? Will she help him? And what happens when Cloud shows up . . . ? Post AC, Loz x Tifa

Author Notes: I really want to write something that has to do with this pairing. After reading some great fanfictions with these two in it . . . well, shoot. I wanna write one! This is my first ever Final Fantasy fanfic, so . . . yeah. Uhm, hopefully you all will enjoy?

**Crawling**

"_We can go together . . ."_

He was so close. Before him flooded a bright light, the scent of flowers . . . and most importantly he found warmth; a sense of belonging. His fingertips tingled, as if someone was trying to grab them, to pull him nearer.

"_Brother . . ."_

"I'm here!" he yelled hoarsely. But suddenly, it wasn't so bright. Theradiance was fading slowly, the warmth leaving his body.

"_Hurry . . ."_

Their voices echoed in his head . . . He tried to move, tried to extend a hand, but nothing seemed to budge.

"_Loz!"_

There was no more light.

He was alone.

Drawing in a quick breath, he wrenched open his eyes. But all he saw was darkness. "Help me!" he yelled, but his voice was muffled by something heavy that was on top of his chest, the side of his face pressed against it. He could feel his body again, but along with that, he could feel a throbbing pain rushing through him, ebbing away at every corner of his flesh. The cold, hard ground against his back wasn't helping, either. Loz once again tried yelling for help, but nothing came. He pushed forward, feeling something hard . . .

Then he remembered what happened. He and Yazoo were on top of a building with their Big Brother . . . there was an explosion . . .

His muscles tensed as he once again struggled to get free from this prison of broken plaster. "G-get . . . off!" he growled, and finally, it was pushed off him. His lungs were no longer pressured, but it was still hard to breathe with all the dust and debris. The silver-haired man got up slowly, bumping his head against something.

"Ow!" he muttered, rubbing his temple. Looking down at his gloved hand, he saw blood. His lower lip quivered a bit, heart racing. What was going on? Where was Mother? Where was . . .

"Yazoo! Kadaj!" Loz yelled, searching frantically for any trace of his brothers. He flipped over pieces of debris. "Come out!"

Answer never came.

* * *

"Why won't you answer me!"

Tifa Lockheart slammed the phone back into its charger. She had lost count on how many times she'd called Cloud. There was a very annoying customer who kept asking when his delivery would come in. He kept asking for the person who would be delivering, and it was driving her crazy.

Letting out a frustrated groan, she shut her eyes, pulling at her dark brown hair. "Calm down, Tifa," she told herself. "The day's almost over, the shop's closing, and you can get a good night's sleep."

But how could she? She hadn't seen Cloud since they defeated Kadaj, which had been for about a week or so. This normally wouldn't have bothered her, but he had promised to take her out to dinner _soon_. Snorting a bit, she walked out of the hallway and towards the bar. "'Soon'? Yeah, right . . ."

Tifa went back to cleaning the glasses she had started on earlier. Business had been a bit slow lately, which left her with a little too much free time to think about Cloud. It seemed he had never really recovered from Aeris's death. Of course, she loved Aeris and missed her, but she managed to keep on living—to keep on fighting.

It had always been that way with her—fighting, striving to live . . . to live without Cloud . . . There was just something about him that she loved. Something that she believed she needed. She was overjoyed when he offered to take her out for dinner, but she felt even worse than before when he hadn't talked to her after that.

The 22 year old was so deep in her thoughts she didn't even notice the soft clanging of the bell sound when the door opened. But she did hear something plopping down onto the ground with a thud. Raising her eyes from the glasses, she stared forward, thinking she was alone.

It turned out she wasn't.

Lying on the bar floor, wet and unconscious, was a very familiar-looking man. Tifa stared at him for a moment, thinking of what to do. Gritting her teeth at her decision, she called:

"Marlene, get some bandages!"

* * *

**Author Notes**: So. Uh. Yeah. I'm trying to be descriptive as I can here. I'm used to working through a first-person point of view . . .

Well, anyway . . . please review!


	2. Surreal Dreams

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own it.

**Rating:** T

**Author Notes:** Um, I got really bored so I decided to just go ahead and make Chapter 2 . .

Heh, did you know that I named this after a Linkin Park song? Okay, okay, so I started the story at about 11 at night, and I wondered what to call the story. I decided on "Crawling" because it was the song I was listening to. Hahah—

-cough-

I'll stop.

Here's the story!

**Crawling**

"_Brother . . ._"

Loz ran blindly, not knowing where he was going. Everything around him was black, a dark nothingness. "Yazoo! Kadaj!"

"_Brother . . ."_

He picked up his pace, heart pounding in his chest. He was so scared, so alone . . . Why did they leave him? What happened?

"_Brother . . . where are you . . . ?"_

"Here!" Loz screamed. "I'm here!"

"_Why . . ."_

He stumbled over something he couldn't see, landing face-flat on the ground. Groping at it, he tried to haul himself up, but he could find nothing to help himself. Nothing to help himself . . .

"_. . . didn't you come . . . ?"_

"I'm coming! I'm right here!"

* * *

Tifa let out a sigh. She was supposed to be in bed by now, resting after a long day of work. It almost wasn't fair to her that she had to juggle two jobs—the bar _and_ Cloud's delivery service. The whole thing was just giving her a big headache. 

And now . . . she was helping someone who had mercilessly beaten her in Aeris's own church and left her as a message to Cloud. She was tending to him in the guest bedroom that she herself had taken such a long time to decorate—with white walls that she painted herself, light yellow curtains that were just the right shade to compliment the rays of the sun that came through the perfectly dust-free blinds. She even had the nerve to rest him on top of the nicely-made bed, which had the sheets and comforter that she took forever to find.

Nevertheless, the first thing she had to do was get him out of those wet clothes. She unzipped his leather jacket, unbuckled the straps, and peeled it off him. It was ripped and stained with blood—his blood, most likely. She tossed it over onto the floor, wondering where to start. But she couldn't help but notice how _muscular_ he was . . .

Shaking her head, she decided to begin with his torso. He had a huge cut across his six-pack stomach . . .

Tifa cursed silently under her breath. Why did she have to notice those things? 'Okay, Tifa, calm down. It's . . . uh . . . no wonder why he was so strong. Yeah, that's it. He was a formidable opponent back in the church.' She pondered this excuse for obviously checking him out. 'There's no time to think about that!' she told herself. Making sure the door was closed; the 22 year old started wrapping the bandages around him.

But she jerked away when he shivered. It seemed that he was having a bad dream or something . . .

After he stopped, she resumed bandaging him up.

It took quite a while for her to finish, and she glanced at the clock. It was about 11:30 at night, and she had to get up at around 5. She picked up his clothes and went off to wash them. Hopefully, he'd be out of here in a few days, if not tomorrow. But she stopped when she heard the man mutter something to himself . . .

"Help me . . ."

He turned over onto his side, hands reaching to cover his head. Letting out a stiff groan, he plopped back onto his back, still gripping his throbbing temples. Tifa couldn't help but feel sorry for him, so she walked back over cover him with the sheets. But as she did, he grabbed unconsciously onto her hand, and held it as if it was something he was looking for. She tried to pull away, but he kept a steady grip on it.

"Let . . . go . . . p-please . . ." she tried to wrench away from him, but he held on still.

* * *

"_Brother . . ."_

The voices were fading. "Help me!" Loz yelled. But suddenly, there was light again . . . he reached for it and felt something soft and warm . . . a hand?

"_Brother . . ."_

The voices went away completely, but Loz was focused on the light. On that one thing that had responded to his cry for help . . .

"Let go . . . p-please . . ."

But he didn't want to. "Why?" he asked absently, only gripping on tighter. He felt like he was being lifted off his feet towards the light . . .

* * *

Tifa gasped when she saw his eyes flutter open. They were the same exact color of Sephiroth's. They were the eyes she despised . . . and yet, they were different. His eyes didn't have the same loathing that Sephiroth's did. His eyes were softer . . . and . . . if it were possible . . . _kinder_. On top of that, there was a general look of confusion. 

"W-where . . ."

The girl didn't know what to say. She wasn't expecting him to wake up, especially after that blow to his head, wherever he had acquired it.

". . . am I . . . ?"

"You're . . ." she paused for a bit, trying to find the right words to say.

"You're safe."

* * *

**Author Notes: **Gr, I hope I wasn't too out of character there. I tried to make as much sense as I could out of Tifa's and Loz's actions, but I don't know. Meh. Tell me what you thought about it! 


	3. Not So Quiet Night

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

**Rating: **T

**Author Notes:** Alright, I've been off all last month vacationing . . . lots of things have been going on, and since I've been reading a few Loz x Tifa fics out there, I remembered I need to update mine. Hahah, so here you go. I'll try to make this longer than my other chapters . . .

**Crawling**

With shaking hands, Tifa Lockheart threw the black clothing into the wash. She was gritting her teeth, trying to keep focused on her work. Ever since she closed the door of his room, she had been a bit . . . on edge. The girl had finally given into the fact when she accidentally slammed the machine's flap so hard she had to check if it was broken or not. Tifa drew in a slow, but deep and steady breath.

She closed her eyes. 'Just pretend they're Cloud's clothes. Yeah. They're Cloud's clothes and he just got back home, that's why he's a little hurt and tired.' Opening them again, she spun around quickly, almost running into a cabinet door she had forgotten to close. But it was just that simple gesture that sent her back into her anxious frenzy.

Obviously, Tifa had left it open while carrying some of Cloud's clothes to give to that silver haired man. That same silver haired man who fought her. That same one who took Marlene and Denzel. The same one who hurt Cloud so badly on that exploding building. The same one who had looked up at her with those eyes.

She was starting to contemplate about kicking him out when there was a noise coming from the hall. The door creaked open . . .

"Tifa!"

Letting out a rather frustrated sigh, the older woman looked down at the little girl standing before her. "Marlene, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Yeah, but . . ." Marlene's eyes were staring intently at the white tiles.

"But what?" Tifa placed her hands on her hips.

The girl didn't respond. Instead, she continued looking at the floor, gaze dropping at the noisy washing machine. "Why is that on? It's like, midnight."

"It is midnight, that's why you are supposed to be in bed," Tifa replied, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but . . ."

Tifa's head was spinning. Even when the shop closed, she never got a break. "But why are you awake this late?"

Imitating the older woman's sigh, Marlene lifted her head. "Me and Denzel can't sleep . . ."

"Why not, sweetie?" she combed a hand through Marlene's hair.

"Mr. Remnant Man keeps on making weird noises, and I can't sleep!" Marlene tugged on Tifa's pajama shirt. "Can't you make him stop . . . ?"

'Just another headache . . .' Tifa could already feel it. But putting on a smile, she said, "Why don't you and Denzel get some milk in the fridge and I'll see what I can do?"

The girl smiled back. "Can we warm it up too?"

"Of course you can!" Soon enough, the two disappeared into the darkness, the sound of their footsteps echoing softly from the direction of the kitchen.

At first she hesitated. The blunt truth was that she did not want to step foot into that room. She didn't want to be wrapped up in this, especially because she was at the risk of being even slightly attracted to the man. But he had to be confronted sooner or later, though she would prefer the latter.

Peeking into the room, she watched as he turned onto his side, and then tossed back onto his other one. One hand was placed firmly on the side of the bed, while the other clutched his bandaged head. He was acting differently than earlier—this time it looked like he was doing this out of pain, not bad dreams. He wasn't muttering things or making strange gestures.

'And he's not reaching for anyone's hand.'

Tifa crept in, making sure the only noise the door made was a soft click. Glancing around a bit worriedly, it almost didn't feel like her guest room anymore. There was a strange, almost tangible heaviness in the air when the man stopped moving. For a moment, she thought he was dead. But with the little moonlight seeping through the blinds, Tifa spotted two glowing green eyes staring right at her.

She would've screamed.

But instead, the man let out a soft groan, piercing through the momentary silence. "M-my head . . ." It was apparent now that some of the blood had already soaked through most of the bandage.

"Hold still," Tifa whispered, reaching out to unwrap it. After putting on a new one, she sat down tiredly on the floor and leaned back on the bed. Right now, she was far too sleepy to get up, or even move. So she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, not knowing that she was still being watched . . .

* * *

"_You're safe."_

The words echoed through his mind—right now, they were the only sense of comfort he could have at the moment. Walking along the streets, he felt so alone. There was nothing for him to look forward to. No one to tell him that it was going to be okay. Loz had waited and waited for the reunion, but now there was nothing to wait for. It was . . .

A flash of pain shot through his head, making him groan in pain once more. His side started to ache as well, so he tossed onto his other side. It wouldn't be long until that started hurting as well. He tried to take in a long breath—one that would usually have been relaxing, but his lungs told him not to or they would shatter. And with his discomfort, there were creaking sounds from another room, followed by something slamming. When he Loz thought it was all over, there were loud, quick footsteps outside his door. Luckily, they passed by him, and they faded quickly into a silence that was quickly interrupted by talking.

He wanted to just pull the pillow over his head, but he knew that would cause his head more pain than it was in right now. But could things get any worse?

Of course they could.

Another almost electrical shock moved through his temples, making him growl and shuffle and turn. This time, he clutched at them, thinking maybe he could just pull the throbbing clear out. This didn't work, however, as he just tore the bandage and hurt himself all over again. He let out another groan, and . . .

Wait. What was that?

He automatically stopped, sensing something in the room. Loz wrenched open his eyes, catching sight of her again.

Loz tried not to groan again, but it was just too much this time. "M-my head . . ."

He hadn't heard what she'd said, but the way she moved toward him said that she was trying to help. So he let her bandage him again, and he did feel a little better. But for some reason, it looked like she was feeling worse. Last time she was in this room, she left. She didn't this time, to his surprise—the girl merely sat down and did nothing more.

". . . Hey . . ."

With a now-ungloved hand, Loz reached out to touch her. He let a few strands of her hair slip through his fingers.

It was just the way he thought it would be . . .

She had been so strong. And shoot, it was the most fun he had in quite a while. Loz didn't really like using guns, though most of the occasions he was in called for one. It was great to fight using his fists again. At the same time, though, he had to admit she was . . . er . . . what was that word Kadaj used to call a girl one time? Well, at he couldn't remember. Whatever it was it described her.

And for some reason, he felt as if he knew her from before. Loz felt he somehow _knew_ that she had almost always been that strong. Of course, he had never told that to his brothers. They would have thought he was crazy. Now, though, he wish he had.

Suddenly, she twitched a little, and the silver-haired man used up all his strength to glance over the bed at her. Her eyes were closed shut, to Loz's displeasure. A huge part of him wanted to see those depths of wine red. But another shiver from her wrenched Loz from his thoughts. He unconsciously went back to stroking her hair, trying to think of what was wrong.

* * *

**Author Notes:** I'm hopefully gonna bring Cloud into the next chapter, heheh. This chapter was kind of like . . . eh. It was kind of just peering into their emotions a little. (I hope I wasn't OOC! -sweatdrop-)I'll make the next chapter a little more interesting, promise! But of course, you're gonna have to review . . . 


	4. Cold Cereal

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it. If I did I would be rich and famous and happy.

**Rating: **T

**Author Notes:** Hoo, boy. I am so happy at how many reviews I've gotten! It makes me go, "Squee!" I look at my reviews constantly, and seeing all the ones I have on this one make me wanna yell and jump with joy. (I would love more, of course, though! Heehee.)

I'll try to make Loz a little more harsh, but I don't know, he didn't come off to me as harsh. I think he's more like the follower-without-thought/naive type . . . Well anyway, here's the story.

**Crawling**

Here she was again—with that man standing before her. He didn't give any acknowledgement to her presence. In fact, he stood with his back towards her. She could see all of it—his long, silver hair; that long black trench coat that fell towards the floor; those boots which were caked with dirt and mud—it was him in all his glory. And she knew that when he turned around, she would see something she would never forget—those eyes.

Those glowing green eyes . . .

"Sephiro—"

With a gasp, Tifa shot straight up in bed. It was just a dream. A bad dream, and nothing more. Grinding the heel of her palm into her forehead, she told herself to relax. There was nothing that was going to hurt her, and Sephiroth was dead.

"He's dead, he's dead . . ."

She would've continued her little chanting, but she heard something shuffle about on the floor.

Wait a second . . .What exactly happened last night? The last thing she could remember was changing his bandages and . . .

Oh, no.

She definitely did not remember lying down in a bed. And this wasn't even her room! It was the guest room . . .

'Don't do it, Tifa,' the girl told herself, but she just had to. Peering over the side of the bed, she saw _him._ It was him—the one who looked so much like the man she hated and despised . . . who was sleeping on her floor. Okay, so somehow they'd changed places. Maybe he picked her up and put her on the bed? But of course, she could think of no reason why he would do that. In fact, she didn't think he even had the heart enough to do something like that.

Taking a deep breath, she told herself to calm down once again. With the bed creaking beneath her, the 22 year old stepped over him and headed toward the door. It seemed so far away. But when she reached it, she hastily shut it behind her.

She leaned back against it, trying to get her heart rate to slow down. Slowly she slid down to the floor and pulled her legs up to her chest. For a moment or so, she merely sat there, resting her chin against her knee. Tifa didn't even notice that she'd started to cry.

"Oh, God . . ." she whimpered, sniffling. She ran a hand through her unkempt hair and buried her face in her other arm. If Cloud were here, none of this would be happening. If Cloud were here, she'd be happy . . .

Or, that's what she'd always assumed.

Relinquishing a long and sorrowful sigh, Tifa stood up and quickly brushed the tears from her eyes. She was a wreck. A pitiful wreck. And she didn't want the kids to see her like this. If the person taking care of them didn't know what to do, what would they think of themselves? Tifa sniffed one last time and cleared her throat. 'You're gonna be okay, Teef, just get through this,' the brunette reassured herself, nodding.

But she didn't expect to feel warmth from behind her, or a husky breath on her neck. Alarmed, she spun around to see that silver haired man, standing there in the doorway. He wore a rather sleepy expression on his face and was wiping one eye with the sleeve of Cloud's old shirt—luckily she'd found one large enough to fit him . . .

No, she shouldn't be thinking about what he was wearing! Her mind was screaming 'Run, Tifa, run!' at her, but for some reason, her body would just not respond. She was trapped—trapped in the gaze of those glowing green eyes.

The man merely blinked down at her. ". . . Morning . . . ?"

Tifa wasn't sure whether he was asking if it was morning or trying to greet her. In fact, she didn't stick around to do so. This was because the second he took tore his stare from hers, she was off and running. How he recovered so quickly, she didn't know. In fact, she didn't want to know. All she knew was that she wanted to climb into her bed and wait until Cloud came.

Of course she couldn't do that. So instead of running to her room, she stopped at the kitchen and slammed her back into the nearest wall. Again she was trying to catch her breath. Tifa had to admit she was feeling anxious and scared. He hadn't given any notion that he was going to hurt her, but she was sure he was capable of doing so. She needed to remember where she put her gloves . . .

"Tifa?"

At the sound of her name, she almost jumped. But it was just Marlene, with Denzel standing behind her. Air escaping from her mouth, she pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead. "Oh, guys . . . you really scared me right there."

Giggling a bit, Marlene couldn't help but smile. "Sorry," she grinned back at Denzel, who smiled back at her. "But we're hungry, and the bar opens in an hour."

"An hour?!" Tifa quickly glanced at the clock. Indeed, it did open in an hour . . . she refrained from cursing. She was supposed to be up and hour ago! Though she didn't want to turn down the kids, she had to. "I can't cook today, guys, I'm sorry. Can you fix yourselves some cereal? I'm . . . I'm really running—"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Denzel put in, noticing the anxiety in her voice. "Just don't work to hard."

They really were good kids . . .

Running up to her room, she picked out some clothes, took a shower, blow-dried her hair, and brushed her teeth all as quickly as she possibly could. Today was a weekend . . . meaning the chance of Cloud coming back was slightly higher. She knew that he wanted to spend as many weekends as possible with Marlene and Denzel. To say the truth, so did she. On those weekends, they were like one happy—

A loud scream interrupted her thoughts. "Marlene!" Tifa rushed towards where she'd heard it. "What's wrong!?" The first thing she saw was Loz standing there, Marlene sitting near his feet. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. The blood was already boiling in her veins. "WHAT DID YOU—"

"Tifa!" the little girl ran up to her, hugging her waist. "Mr. Loz saved me!"

". . . He what . . . ?"

The silver-haired man scratched the back of his head, hiding a smile. "I was gonna get some bowls for me and Denzel in the cupboard and I was gonna fall, but then Mr. Loz saved me and I don't think he's really that bad of a person anyway, I think that he was just following orders what his brothers told him to, and his brothers only did stuff because of Sephiroth and I don't think they're really evil at all and I think that you should let him stay!" After that very long sentence, Marlene took a deep breath before looking up to lock eyes with the older woman.

At the moment, Tifa hadn't fully registered what Marlene had said, so she merely said, "Okay."

This sent the girl into a fit of happiness and squealing of joy. Without even knowing how it happened, Tifa was having cereal with two excited kids and the man she thought she despised.

* * *

Plopping down onto what he'd claimed to be 'his bed', Loz let out a contented sigh. What a day . . . 

He stared up at the ceiling, recalling what had happened over in his head. There was some chasing around . . . well, a lot of chasing around. It was something Marlene had called 'hide and seek'. Apparently, he was supposed to open doors and check to see if any of the two kids were in that 'hiding place' and then if they were, he was supposed to chase them around the house until they stopped at a specified object. When both of them got to said object, he 'lost'. The man still didn't know how or why he lost, but he didn't really care.

And then there was cleaning the bar with Tifa . . .

With his brothers, they didn't really clean anything. But this whole 'dusting' thing was pretty fun. To him, it was, at least. He didn't really like the labor of going around to every corner and whacking it with this weird fluffy thing, but it was Tifa's reaction to the dust. She would wrinkle her nose or sometimes even sneeze.

And he . . . kind of liked it.

Near the end of the day, he helped cook. Er, rather, he attempted to. After cutting himself numerous times with a knife Tifa decided that she'd do it all herself. The four of them sat there after it was ready and just ate together. It almost reminded him when he was with his brothers. Of course, the food wasn't as good and the place wasn't as nice, but it was still fun. It amused him how Denzel and Marlene seemed to never shut up.

Loz's favorite part of the day was something else, though. He couldn't help but smile thinking about it. Before everyone had gone to get ready to sleep, Marlene insisted they take some pictures. The one he liked the most was the one with his arm wrapped around—

What was that?

It was something he hadn't heard for a long time. It was a . . . what was it again . . . oh, yeah. It was the sound of a phone ringing. He let out a sigh, knowing that it probably wasn't Yazoo or Kadaj. But he could hear Tifa's voice down the hallway . . .

"Cloud? Wait, really? Tomorrow?"

He didn't know it was the start of his experience with a whole new type of pain.

* * *

**Author Notes:** This chapter I guess just makes Loz feel more connected with everyone. And dum dum dum, Cloud's coming back? I want more angst in my story . . . I think I'll have some in by chapter 6. 

Hahah, yes, I already have chapter 5. But I didn't want to put it up because I'm selfish and I want reviews. So if everyone who reads this reviews I'll put it up sooner.

I'm so evil.

But I love you guys, haha.

Review please!


	5. Waiting

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

**Rating:** T

**Author Notes:** Alright, looking at my last chapter, I wasn't satisfied, so I decided I needed to write another one in order to get the story really going! I'm so happy and excited how many reviews I've had already and this just makes me go squee!

Anyway . . . here's the story.

**Crawling**

At first she'd been happy. Ecstatic, even. But now the feeling just . . . drained away. Why or how it did, she wasn't exactly sure. Even after Cloud had apologized for not calling before and how he promised he'd make it up to her. Letting out a sigh, Tifa took a seat next to the window. Wine red eyes gazed out into the night sky, counting the stars in an attempt to forget her troubles.

Of course, that never worked, but being the hopeful girl she was, she continued counting.

"Why does it always happen this way . . . ?" She pressed her forehead against the cool glass. "When I think things are going okay, you come back . . ."

Tifa closed her eyes. No, it wasn't time to think like that. Cloud's return was going to be a good thing. A _good_ thing. At least . . . that's what she kept telling herself over and over again until she drifted into slumber.

* * *

Snorting a bit, Loz turned over onto his side. He didn't even know how long it had been since he last shifted his position. It wasn't that the bed was uncomfortable—oh, no, it was quite the contrary. This wasn't something he was used to. He almost felt as if he was going to fall through it or something. And another thing—it was hard for him to fall asleep when he couldn't stop thinking about Tifa.

That was the really weird part.

When he was with his brothers, he thought solely of his mission. When he wasn't, he was thinking of what they were going to eat next, or what it would be like to see Mother. But now, he was thinking about . . . _her_. It bothered him. Whenever he tried to think of something else, everything would just lead back to her.

Take earlier, for example. Loz clearly recalled that he was thinking about what he wanted to eat the next morning. And instead of thinking about the food, his mind wandered to Tifa cooking something for him.

How did that happen?!

From there, it wandered to her smiling at him. That whole train of thought eventually lead to the one of him letting her hair slip through his fingers . . .

Enough was enough. Pulling the covers off him, Loz swiftly came to a stop in front of the door to her room. It was slightly agape, and he could hear her talking to . . . someone? Peeking in a bit, he found her staring out the window. Well, there was no one around. Was she just talking to herself, then?

"When I think things are okay, you come back . . ."

What did she mean by that? A frown crossed his face. Did she mean . . . him? Was she annoyed? Did she want him to leave? Opening his mouth to speak, Loz was tempted to call out her name. But by that point, she wasn't even looking out the window anymore. She was slouched against the wall, eyes closed. For a few good minutes he stood there, just watching her.

He was sure he could watch her forever . . .

But then that impulse came. The one that made him feel like he needed to touch her. Pushing the door open a little wider, he let himself in and moved quietly to her side. He took a little more time to look at her from this better view. After a while, though, he picked her up and placed her on the bed. Loz was pretty sure that's where she was supposed to be when she slept.

. . . Unless she wanted to sleep on that chair? 'Grr! Why does it matter?' he asked himself. Why did it matter to him what she wanted? Relinquishing a rather aggravated sigh, he took the chair and set it by her bed. Sitting down, he merely watched her the rest of the night.

* * *

Tifa didn't know how the chair got there, or how she ended up on the bed. But today Cloud was going to come back. He asked her to close the shop, and she decided to do just that. After getting herself dressed and ready, she found Loz and the kids sitting at the table with cereal.

"Tifa! Tifa!" Marlene flew out of her seat. "Is Cloud really coming back today?"

She forced a smile. "He sure is!"

"Alright!" Denzel waved a hand enthusiastically. "What are we gonna do? We heard—"

"That you and Cloud are going on a date!" the younger girl squealed, cutting in on Denzel. "Are you? Are you?" She tugged on her shirt, gazing up with curious eyes.

Tifa thought for a moment. She wasn't really sure herself if Cloud was going to keep his promise, but . . . "Why don't you ask him when he gets here?"

"I knew it! I told you!" Marlene pointed a finger and Denzel, who grinned sheepishly.

As the kids quickly finished their cereal, they pulled Tifa off, talking to rapidly for her to even understand what they were saying. But in the fray of it all, she heard Loz mutter, ". . . Date?"

It took a few hours for Cloud to call again. He said that he was on his way, and that he would be there in no time. It was getting into the afternoon, so he told Tifa to get ready and meet him at one of the restaurants. At first, this seemed too good to be true. But it was happening, alright. Marlene was making sure of it.

"Ooh! Tifa! Tifa! Wear this one! Wear this one!"

After picking out the dress Marlene said best suited her, Tifa began curling her hair. Usually, she just left it the way it was, but with all this commotion it seemed like a special occasion. From the corner of her eye, though, he could have sworn that Loz was standing there for at least 5 minutes before going off to his own business.

Around maybe 6:30, she was completely ready to go . . . and was even shoved out the door by two excited little kids.

"Have fun on your date!" Marlene called to Tifa as she stepped out. "Oh, and we want you back home by 8 o'clock, young lady!" she mocked, a toothy grin plastered onto her face.

"Yeah, yeah . . ." Tifa smiled back. Maybe this was going to be a good thing after all? Since she had no car, she had to walk to the restaurant. That was a little inconvenient, because it was getting a little chilly, and the restaurant was a few blocks away.

After passing the first few, she got a few wolf whistles and boys calling to her, but she ignored them. Past the next few, it only got colder. By the time she got there, it was definitely colder than when she left. Glancing up at the sky, Tifa could see a whole mess of dark clouds. Great, just great.

Gazing into the window, she could see that it was obviously full. Without a reservation, there would be no chance that she and Cloud would be dining there any time that night. And he still hadn't showed up.

Thirty minutes later, he still wasn't there, and the place was so crowded she was forced to stand outside in order to avoid stares from guys. Tifa swore that if she wasn't in a dress she'd kick all of their asses . . .

And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse it began to rain. This was by far one of the worst days she'd ever had. She was freezing, annoyed, and stood up by the man she thought she was in love with . . .

Tifa was about to cry when she saw someone come running toward her in the rain. Was it really Cloud?

To her surprise, it wasn't. It was Loz. With an exhausted look on his face, he handed her . . . a closed umbrella? At this, she just started laughing. She laughed even more at the confused look on his face. Obviously, he didn't know how to open it, or what it was in the first place. Unfastening the button, the umbrella unfolded, covering the two from the rain. Sure, she was already soaking wet, but hey, she wasn't complaining.

Granting him a smile, she told him:

"Thank you."

* * *

**Author Notes:** Yeah . . . Not sure if this chapter is really moving anything along, but . . . I'm gonna bring Cloud in during the next chapter. For real this time, promise.

But until then, I need reviews. Lots and lots of reviews yay!


	6. You're Not My Hero

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Squaresoft, or anything. Sadly.

**Rating: **T

**Author Notes:** I love you guys. I have gotten so many great little reviews, it just makes me smile when I read them, and go "wheeee!" running around in little circles.

Hopefully I'm not writing too much out of character? Not very sure how Denzel and Marlene act, so I'm kinda rusty on that.

So, yeah. I'm trying to make this a little more angsty, because well . . . I like angst, haha. And Cloud is in this chapter, oh, yes . . .

**Crawling**

He just couldn't help himself.

Loz wasn't sure how long he'd been staring out the window. Eyes glazed over, he watched the clouds slowly approaching. They weren't the white, puffy ones he'd seen more recently, but they were dark, and . . . and scary. Though the man didn't usually fret at all about the weather, the thought of big, black, monsters looming over the city—while Tifa was out of his protection—made him feel very odd. It was a strange hurting deep within his chest, and along with that, an unsettling sensation in his stomach. And he knew he wasn't hungry.

He just couldn't help himself. It only struck him when Tifa had walked out the door that she was the reason why he was still there. Still there in the house, still there . . . _living_. It had been her hand that saved him from being pulled away.

Shuddering a bit, the man wondered what being dead was like. All he knew was that it couldn't be fun—his brothers had tried to hard to avoid it . . .

"Tifa's gonna get sick!" came a wail from the kitchen. Standing from his seat for the first time in a long time, Loz cracked his back and lazily walked into the hallway. Marlene was gazing out into the window, tugging rather forcefully at Denzel's sleeve. "Tifa's gonna get sick if it raaaaiiinnnsss!" With that last word, one last jerk nearly drove the older boy into the hard wood floor.

"Marlene, calm down! I'm sure Cloud's already there. He'll take care of her, don't worry!"

A quivering frown appeared on the girl's face. "But what if he doesn't come back again?"

Denzel was silent for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say. At last, he settled with, "He will come back, Marlene, I just know it."

This seemed to appease her slightly, but she was still not completely content. "I think she should at least have an umbrella." It was then the two looked over at Loz, as if they had just noticed his presence. "Mr. Loz, why don't you bring Tifa an umbrella? Then she won't get sick!"

Loz nodded slowly, not wholly comprehending any of this. What was an umbrella, and what was a sick? Scratching his head, he figured getting a sick wasn't a good thing, because Marlene was very much against it. And if it wasn't a good thing, then he definitely didn't want it to get Tifa . . . or Tifa get it . . . or however it was supposed to happen.

Before he knew it, he was being pushed out the door with this . . . this thing in his hands. It was blue, smooth and made a sort of scratchy noise when he ran his finger against the softer material, and then poking out from the bottom was a black stick-like thing that was curved at the end. This strange contraption was going to keep sick from getting Tifa? He wasn't sure, because he'd never encountered sick in his life.

The silver haired man began to walk quickly down the sidewalk, racing with the dark monsters overhead. He didn't want them to get to Tifa before he did, so he could protect her . . . And suddenly the walking stopped, and brows furrowed. He remembered Kadaj telling him one time, "Shut up and protect yourself", which he figured meant to keep himself out of the way of the Midgar wolf's fangs. Loz had done nothing since that day but protect himself and himself only. But now he felt the urge to protect someone else—Tifa.

Suddenly, Loz stopped abruptly. It seemed that someone had tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw no one there. And then, another tap—except this time on his other shoulder. Again, there was no one there. He began to wonder who was playing this trick on him when he felt a third tap, except on top of his head. He felt something cold and slippery dripping down his forehead . . . was it water? It was rain.

"Tifa's gonna get sick if it rains!"

With that he lunged forward, feet pounding back against the concrete, running forward as fast as he could. At last, he saw a figure standing outside some place, which he instantly recognized to be Tifa. She was already wet, and the curls of her hair were matted down against her head. The look on her face made something in his chest twist—she looked . . . sad. Maybe she was afraid of those black monsters in the sky? Quickly, he outstretched his hand to give her the umbrella.

And suddenly she was okay again! Tifa was laughing, a smile on her face. Loz didn't notice one creeping its way onto his, as well. He saw her mouth move, but could not hear her through the sound of pounding raindrops against the pavement. The umbrella seemed to take a new form, and she placed it above their heads, blocking the water from hitting them.

Loz scratched the back of his head, wondering why he didn't think of that in the first place. "Are you okay, Tifa?" he huffed, though he was the one out of breath. Secretly, he'd been dying to ask her that question all night. All she did was nod, and wipe away some water that had somehow fallen next to her eyes.

Tifa began shaking, teeth chattering against each other. Loz recalled another memory with his brothers—they were in weather that was cold, and Yazoo suggested, "sharing body heat". He decided that this particular occasion was calling for it. So, reaching over to wrap an arm around her, Loz pulled her closer to her—he was sure he had more than enough "body heat" to share, because he wasn't cold at all. Besides, he rather liked the feeling of her shivering against him . . .

* * *

"Oh, Tifa, I'm so sorry!" Marlene flailed her arms around the older woman. 

"Marlene, don't do that, you'll get wet."

"I can't believe Cloud did that! I mean, he—"

"It's alright."

"Tifa . . .?"

Tifa put on a smile. "He must have been busy—it's not his fault." At this point, she wasn't sure whether she was talking to herself or Marlene. It didn't matter to her, though, because she would get sick if she stayed in these wet clothes. Hurriedly, she headed upstairs and threw off the dress, casting it to the other side of the room. Tifa stood there momentarily, shuddering at the remembrance of Loz pulling her against him.

As she changed into more comfortable clothes, she reminded herself after he was fully healed, she'd kick him out . . .

"Ready or not, here I come!"

There was a sound of shuffling feet against wooden floors, and hurried steps that grew louder and then fell away. Letting out a sigh, Tifa wondered how she's tell the kids. She put on a stern face when she headed to the door, ready to just break it to them. Yes, that was what she would do—tell them straight how it was going to be . . .

"Found you!" A fit of giggles and laughter ensued, and Tifa watched as Marlene and Denzel pulled Loz from the coat closet, ready to start up their next round.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

All he could really understand was the last part of it: 

"But Cloud's never coming back and we need someone like Mr. Loz around!"

"Cloud _is_ coming back, and no, we don't need _anyone_ like 'Mr. Loz'!"

The end of the conversation was completely unfathomable from where he was situated, lying in his bed, listening. But there were raised voices, a bit of what sounded to be screaming from Marlene, and a "Don't talk back to me like that, young lady!"

Did he do something wrong?

A slamming noise echoed through the house, and after half an hour of commotion, there was complete silence. Sitting up in his bed, Loz slowly crept out into the hallway. There, with her back turned toward him, was Tifa, yanking away at her hair. Quietly, he walked behind her. "Tifa?" She spun around, looking up at him with a red face and eyes full of water. "Hey . . ." he murmured softly, inching closer to her.

Tifa merely stepped back, shaking her head. He thought he heard her whisper something about "just a Sephiroth clone", but he wasn't very sure. What was that supposed to mean? Was she mad at him? Something just then hit him hard. He felt a deep . . . _fear_ of her being angry at him, and he wasn't sure why. He stared at her, speechless. If there was something he'd done, he would readily and gladly do anything to change it.

"Good night." She stormed past him, leaving him wondering what he'd done wrong.

* * *

Her head slammed hard against the cold steel floors, vision blurred. He towered over her, standing upon at the top of the stairs with his back turned toward her. In that moment, she no longer mattered to him; he was completely absorbed in his own thoughts, his own being, and his own self. 

Slowly, she wobbled onto her knees, gazing at the man before her. Black cloak . . . but his head was shrouded in darkness. Opening her mouth, she tried to yell his name. But her voice was muffled in the void of darkness that was consuming her—the walls began drawing closer and closer, but still the man did not budge. Wrapped up in his thoughts . . .

And then there were the sound of rushed footsteps behind her, boots clanking loudly against the ground. "Tifa!"

"You're late . . ."

She turned her head, only to be faced with glowing green eyes.

"Tifa?"

Immediately, a scream erupted from deep within her. No, he wasn't . . .

"Tifa!"

. . . Her hero . . .

"Tifa! Tifa, wake up!"

Eyes fluttering open, she felt the warm blankets around her, cold sweat dripping from her forehead, and saw the person standing over her bed. ". . . Cloud . . . ?"

". . . Yeah . . . ?"

"You're back!" Tifa threw her arms around his neck, causing him to fall forward. He placed an arm on the side of the bed in order not to crash into her. With his free hand he patted her lightly on the back, not knowing what else to do.

"Uh, I didn't wanna wake you, but you were yelling."

Burying her head into the crook of his neck, she replied, "It's alright . . ."

Cloud pulled away abruptly, breaking her hold on him. He scratched the back of his head, as if he felt awkward just standing there. "Uh, sorry 'bout yesterday night."

"It's okay! You're back now, so we can do something tonight!"

"Uh . . ." he stepped back, staring steadily at the bed sheets. "I dunno, Teef, I just got here, and I'm kinda tired."

Tifa smiled, "Okay, then maybe—"

"Tifa are you okay?" Marlene and Denzel came dashing into the room, running directly into Cloud. The two merely stared at him before it registered in their minds—he was really back!

"Cloud, I knew you'd come back!" Denzel grinned.

The man nodded in return. Tifa looked at the happy faces around her. Maybe they could really be a family . . .

But the content look on Cloud's face disappeared when a fifth member walked into the room. In an instant, his sword was in hand, and he was briskly pushing the children behind him. "How the hell did you get in here?" he demanded, glaring daggers at Loz. He was trying to figure out how the brute was still alive—he was sure he'd killed him.

The silver haired man merely stood there, tilting his head to one side. "I . . ." he looked about the room, not knowing what to say. Upon spotting Tifa, though, his confusion dispelled, replaced with a concerned look. "Tifa . . . are you okay? I . . . I heard you scream, so . . ." Loz wanted to say how he was afraid something bad happened to her, how he'd left what he was doing and ran, how he followed Marlene and Denzel into his room, and how he'd seen 'Big Brother' with a sword . . .

Of course! It was he, Big Brother, who had made her scream. He remembered how sad she looked when he failed to show up last night, and how . . . how she seemed so angry at him . . . was this Big Brother's fault?

Loz turned to face the man, observing the large sword in his hand. "Did you hurt Tifa?"

"What?" Cloud glanced over at her, and back at Loz. "What's going on here?"

"Cloud, I can explain—"

Loz watched as Tifa rose from bed, taking a place at Cloud's side. Just watching her choose Big Brother over him made him feel even stranger—it was like being angry and sad at the same time.

"Well, you have a lot of explaining to do." Cloud put the sword away, eyeing Loz for a while, before turning to the woman.

"Tifa . . .?" Though he called her name, she wouldn't even look at him. What had he done? Was she really mad at him?

Cloud gritted his teeth. Tifa, sensing his discomfort, at last turned to Loz. "Please leave . . ."

And so he did.

* * *

**Author Notes:** Augh, sorry if it turned out kind of crappy. I haven't really been writing lately, and blah. It was hard for me to describe a lot of things, and I kind of debating on what to do next right now. Well, I hope this is longer than the other chapters I have up, and enjoy? Writing as Cloud was difficult for me. I don't really like him; I think he's kind of a prick. 

But yeah, please give me some feedback? I feel like such a failure right now, I don't know if this chapter is really up to par . . . -sobs- Review now please?


End file.
